Luke 22: 7 – 38
The Last Supper
7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. 8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” 9 So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?” 10 And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. 11 Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ 12 Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.” 13 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. 14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” 23 Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing. 24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. 28 “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. 29 And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” 31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” 34 Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.” 35 And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.” 36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37 For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.” 38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”
It was now 14th of Nisan, the day of the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, and Peter and John were to prepare for the Passover, which would require the provision of bread and bitter herbs, of suitable wine and the necessary slaughter of the lamb in the Temple, which would then be brought to the reserved place to be roasted and eaten.
7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.
Please take note here how Passover can be called ‘the day of unleavened bread’ even though it is the day before ‘the Feast of Unleavened Bread’ began. This was because it was the day for removing unleavened bread from their houses. On this day they would ensure that any remaining leavened bread had been removed, so that the period of being free from leaven could begin. Luke is thus stressing the connection of the Feast with what is about to happen. The sinless Lamb of God Who had come to take away the sins of the world had come to be offered up. His hour had come.
8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
Two prominent Apostles were sent to ‘make ready the Passover’ as representatives of their group. The owner of the guest chamber would assist with some of the preparations, but the lamb itself had to be offered by a representative of the group in the Temple and then taken to the house to be cooked. The Passover lambs for all who were in Jerusalem would be offered in the Temple, in the afternoon. There were so many that it would be done in three sessions, which followed the afternoon daily offering which was deliberately made early on this day. The first two would be absolutely packed out. The two Apostles would thus be joining a large bustling crowd of men who were taking their Passover lambs for the purpose, or were seeking to purchase them in the court of the Gentiles. The lambs would need to be checked to ensure that they were without blemish. They would then be taken into the court of the Priests where each would slaughter his own lamb with the blood being caught in a bowl by a priest who would then pass it along to another priest who was standing there for the purpose, who would apply it to the altar. The whole process had been streamlined, but it would still take some time.
9 So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?”
The apostles would have known that house space was difficult to obtain in Jerusalem at such a time. Therefore this question was in their thoughts.
10 And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.
He told them that when they entered the city they would be met by a man bearing a pitcher of water. As observed above, this would be unusual. It was mostly women who bore pitchers of water. Men carried leather water skins. This was thus clearly a prearranged signal. They were then to follow him into the house which he would enter. It would appear that Jesus had made the preparations in such a way that He could give instructions without divulging the whereabouts of the house to someone who might overhear the instructions, like Judas, and without incriminating the house owner if the Apostles were arrested on their way there. Until they arrived they did not know where the house was and the man with the pitcher would not be directly connected with them. We can imagine Judas’ frustration at being unable to discover the whereabouts of the house so that he could send the information to the chief priests.
11 Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’
Once they arrived at the house they were to say to the owner, ‘The Teacher says to you, where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?’
Our Lord Jesus was taking charge of everything that was going down. Nothing is going to surprise Him. He Is aware of all the evil plans of Judas and the priests. It is like a James Bond movie. Our Lord has arranged special pass words to arrange the Last Supper.
12 Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.” 13 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
The account ends with the confirmation that they found all as our Lord Jesus had said, and that they obeyed Him to the letter. And that is how it always is for those who follow Him. All that He says He will do if we follow Him.
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.
The lack of any preparatory words with reference to His arrival suggests that Luke intends us to see a deeper significance in ‘when the hour was come’ than simply as a reference to the time of the usual Passover meal, or the time that our Lord Jesus had fixed. It rather suggests that solemn hour that had to come when our Holy Redeemer and Master Jesus would begin His preparations for certain death. We must remember that to Luke this is now at the end of His prophetic ‘journeying towards Jerusalem’ to die as a true prophet. And now He had come to that hour. From this moment on His course was set.
15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;
He Himself was going forward towards the suffering that He had predicted and it was in the light of that that He had this great and burning desire to eat ‘this Passover’ with them beforehand. He had wanted to share with them His last hours and His last Passover. Soon He would no longer be with them, and He knew how much they would miss Him.
16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
I think one of the many problems which keeps people away from turning to our Lord and King, is the magical inclusions that many churches have adopted into their practices and ideology. And you cannot blame the Catholic church altogether. The Protestant churches are much to blame also. I will first mention just one thing the Protestants are ignorantly keeping people away. They are not following the bible. From a woman who had a dream came the idea of a thing called ‘The Rapture’. We know that our Lord Jesus Is coming back a second time to earth. It does not say anywhere where there will be a part A and a part B to His return. In this incorrect thought our Lord Is going to come from His Throne which was at the right hand of the Father in the Third heaven and come to the second heaven which is outer space. In space the position is that He will call out His church and all believers will disappear instantly and go to meet Him in outer space. Then they are going back to Heaven with Him to have a seven year feast while all hell breaks out on the earth which is called the Tribulation. In part B, He will come back with all the saints to earth after the seven years are up. This then will be His Second Coming. Man, is this a lot of imagination. No wonder if someone came to one of the services and heard this, then would bolt for the exit as soon as possible.
For the Catholics this has been an amazing trickery. Please note that our Lord had bread and wine. What did He tell His disciples? He told them to do this in remembrance of Him. This is what we do as Christians. It is called communion. We are to continue to meet and break bread and wine in order to remember His Great Sacrifice for us. This is no mention of any hocus pocus where the bread and wine are changed into the flesh and blood of our Lord. I grew up in this errant church service. The priest holds up a round wafer and everybody bows down and gives homage to this object as though it is our Precious Lord Jesus. Then wine is poured into a gold chalice and the priest holds it up and the people do the same toward wine in a cup as though it contains the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord. Our Majestic God wants to be worshiped in spirit and truth, not having His children paying homage to material objects.
The bread at the actual Last Supper could never have become His body in any real sense at all whether physical or spiritual. When he said, ‘this is my body’, it could not possibly have been taken literally. For He was still using His body, and they were still looking at Him in it. His words at that stage could only possibly mean ‘this represents My body’ for they could see his real body standing in front of them. To say that God somehow made it His body, when His body was actually there among them, is so clearly self-contradictory, that we could never suggest it of God. God is never self-contradictory.
21 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
Connected with His important words to do with the bread and the wine Jesus declares that among those who have received the bread and wine is one who will betray Him. Here was the second element in His suffering, that as He sat and watched, Judas had eaten the bread and drunk the wine. It must have almost broken His heart. But His words would run like an electric shock through the gathered disciples. And they would look from one to another wondering who it could possibly be who would betray Him. It is clear that they did not suspect Judas. Judas’ mercenary mind was not as apparent to them as it was to Jesus. And after all, he was the group’s treasurer. He had to be interested in finance. When our Lord Jesus told Judas to go ahead and do what he had planned, the disciples merely thought that as the treasurer Judas was going out to pay the bill for the dinner.
Please note the reference to ‘The hand.’ No closer fellowship could be imagined than that of sharing the same table with the hands constantly almost touching as they shared food on the table. It would appear that Judas had been given a favored place, just as he was given a favored sop, so that his hands and The Master Lord Jesus’ hands were on the same table. To have someone’s hand with you can signify having their support.
These words are undoubtedly an appeal to Judas to consider what he was doing. Let him recognize that what he was doing, he was doing to ‘the Son of Man’ Who would shortly be approaching the throne of glory. He was being warned that he was in danger of betraying God’s Chosen One and committing the unforgivable sin. He was deliberately hardening his heart in such a way that it was becoming frozen in unbelief. It could therefore only result in the most terrible woe. And the truth is that it was only one beyond the pale who could have carried through what he was doing in the face of all the opportunities that he had to consider what he was doing. And he could only have done it by deliberately hardening and hardening an already hardened heart. The offer of forgiveness was still open, but it was necessary for him to know that it would shortly be closed.
23 Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.
In other words the disciples were saying, ‘okay, you guys, which one of you is the no good rotten scoundrel, because I know it isn’t me.’ It is obvious that no one admitted that he was the culprit.
24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.
Can you now just picture this scene? Our Lord has instituted a New Covenant. He has introduced a practice that all future believers need to follow, that being communion. He has pointed out that He Is about to be betrayed. And now where do the disciples go in their conversation. They begin to argue about who is the most important. Wow!
Our Lord Jesus few comments put them back in place. He tells them that they need to look to Him as a reference. He Is God Almighty, The Redeemer, and yet He has come to serve not to be served. Any questions?
28 “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. 29 And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Then He pointed out to them that up to this point they had indeed walked in this way. They had continued with Him in the lowly life that He had chosen. They too had faced insults, as He had. They too had had nowhere to lay their head. They too had had to take a lowly position. They had chosen to share with Him the way of service. From the commencement of His ministry up to this point He had faced continual temptation and testing.
And the disciples had continued with Him in this. They too had learned to use the gifts that He had given them in order to preach and serve, and not in order to obtain honor for themselves. They had done well. But it was important that they continued in this way. It was important that they continued to walk as He walked, and thus continued to face and overcome the temptations that He had faced and overcome. And once He had left them they would have to fight those temptations again, but now alone, especially in the days when, instead of obviously being assistants, they would be seen as important in their own right. They would be seen as supreme over the church.
Now having declared to them the future responsibility that they will have as overseers of God’s people after the resurrection, our Lord Jesus now warns His Apostles, and Peter especially, what is involved in such a responsibility, and promises that Peter is being prepared for it, as are they all. They must recognize that if they are to be overseers they must also continue to endure the testing’s which come with such a privilege. It is not possible to be a leader among God’s people and yet remain out of Satan’s firing line. They will thus be clearly in his sights. They have already shared such testing’s along with Him (verse 28), and they must now recognize that these testing’s will continue.
So parallel with the exposure of Judas’ coming betrayal, we now have the exposure of Peter’s coming denial. He also is to be sifted. This too betrays Satan’s hand at work on this awful night when all the spiritual forces of evil were at work, for, as well as entering Judas, he is to be permitted to sift Peter, and the others, to the full. Satan would by this do his best to make them useless in Christ’s service, as he had done with Judas, for he could still not understand the gracious mercy of God that could forgive and uphold His saints. Thus Satan is seen as very active at this final juncture as he seeks to thwart the purposes of God. He knows that his time is short. This is both an encouragement and a warning. It is an encouragement in that we recognize here that he could not thwart the purposes of God, but it is a warning lest, like Judas, we allow him to steal away our part in it. Peter’s failure and subsequent restoration, on the other hand, acts as an encouragement in that, even if Satan trips us up, we can be sure that there is always a way back if we come in true repentance. And through it he would learn to serve.
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” 34 Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”
The repetition of Simon’s name (Simon = Peter) indicates the intensity of Jesus’ words, and the affection that He feels for Peter. The thought is powerful. Satan has desired that the Apostles (‘you’ in the plural) might be put where he can get at them, so that just as wheat is sifted in separating the grain from the chaff, he can give them a thorough going over. Without God’s permission he could not do so. But God does allow it for He has confidence in the disciples and knows that it will be for their good. They have been with Him throughout His temptations, and they too will be allowed further testing.
Now you might be saying, ‘Oh, thanks a lot Lord. What have I done to you that you want this to happen to me?’
However we all need to notice the emphatic ‘I’. Our Lord Jesus stands over against Satan and proves the more powerful. None other could have done this, only the One Who was ‘Stronger than he’. And because He has made supplication for Peter all will be well. Peter’s faith, having been battered, will finally stand the test. Furthermore, once he has ‘been turned again and come back to his Lord and Savior Jesus, he is also to establish his brother disciples, and all the people of God (‘the brethren’).
Our Great Creator God has a purpose in all that He allows. What was to happen to Peter would in the end benefit him, for it would serve to humble him, and it would benefit the people of God as well. This was his preparation for his servant-throne from which he would tend the sheep. In later centuries the leaders of the church would take up the idea of thrones. Men are always looking to exalt themselves. But what they would totally reject was the actual idea of being the servants of all. They would retain the language but reject its content. It is impossible for anyone to feel that he should be put on a pedestal, and at the same time remain humble.
Now, you would think that after spending over three years with our Lord Jesus he would have just kept his mouth shut. But, oh no, he puts up a defense.
Peter was appalled at Jesus’ words. He had full confidence in his own ability to go through whatever was to come and to overcome it. So even though acknowledging Jesus’ Lordship, he insists that whether it be prison or death that he has to face, he will face it without fear. And he meant it. Furthermore we must remember that in the Garden he did show his courage and was ready to take on the whole Roman army, and he was even prepared to infiltrate the ranks of the enemy in the courtyard of the High Priest’s house. But what in his self-confidence he was not aware of were what a night of terrible tension could do to a man’s nerves. It required a different type of person to Peter, so confident in his own ability but so vulnerable, to stand up to that. But only The Lord Jesus knew it.
But our Lord Jesus tenderly turned to him and warned him of what was to come. Note the change from ‘Simon’ to ‘Peter’ (a rock). This is the only time that we know of that He has actually directly addressed him as Peter, and had promised that one day he would provide the rock on which the new people of God would be founded, the declaration of Jesus as the Christ (Messiah).
35 And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.” 36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 37 For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.” 38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”
His first emphasis was to draw attention to how He had provided for them in the past as they went forward in His service. He made them now understand that when they had gone forward without purse, or food pouch or shoes, they had lacked for nothing.
The picture he is describing is of men stripped of everything, packs laid aside, and standing sword in hand ready to face all comers. The idea was thus that they needed to recognise that they would soon be down to their last extremity. Let them now waken up to the present situation. As He had continually warned them of the violent end that awaited Him, now He was trying His best to prepare them for what was to follow that night. He was trying to awaken them to a sense of the hour. But He was finding it impossible. They just could not take it in. It was the opposite of all that they were expecting of Him, and they were therefore impervious to any danger.
That this need for a sword was not intended literally comes out, because He made no further effort to press them it on them once they misunderstood. This was not a leader preparing men for a physical conflict, which would have meant that he urged them until they acted. It was Someone who was trying to awaken them to spiritual battles that lay ahead. Nor in view of what He had taught them previously would He have encouraged armed. For had He not sent them forth as sheep in the midst of wolves? But what He did want them to realize was that the pack of wolves were approaching, and were almost on them, so that they needed to be prepared. Their cozy future was about to be shaken up, and the fact is that He was simply trying by His startling words to awaken them to the urgency of the situation, and make them realize what a dangerous position they would now be in. He wanted them to be fully alert and ready for what was coming.
The Scriptures had said about the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 53 must this night be fulfilled in Him. He must be reckoned among the transgressors. He must go forward to an unjust death, rejected by men and bruised by God. And there He must offer Himself up as a guilt offering for the sins of men, bearing as a result their transgressions and iniquities, and as a consequence putting many in the right so that they could be accounted righteous. Indeed this was the divine necessity, and it must have fulfillment, and that fulfillment was about to take place in Him. Note the twofold stress on its fulfillment. What was to happen was ordained by God.
Strictly speaking this quotation should have awakened them to what was happening. They would know Isaiah 53 well enough, and we cannot doubt that Jesus had drawn it to their attention. They must often have wondered at the sufferings of the one described there. And He had constantly warned them of what was to happen to Him. They should have put the two together. But they were so unready to accept that such consequences could come on The Lord Jesus that they just could not comprehend it.
So at His words the puzzled disciples, wondering why He had become so suddenly concerned about weapons, assured Him that they already had two swords, confident that that should be sufficient to deal with any passing troublemakers.
So our Lord Jesus, saddened by their inability to understand, and to appreciate the true situation, replied, ‘That is enough’. He was not saying that that was enough swords. Rather it was now clear to Him that they did not, and would not, comprehend what was happening, and that in the little time remaining there was no way in which He could shake them out of their apathy. He realized that any further attempts to awaken them could only end in failure. So He acknowledged to Himself that He would have to leave them in His Father’s hands, and Himself pray for them that their faith might not fail, and then let the question drop.
You have to notice how our Lord continued to teach His guys up to the very last moment. Yet what heavy pressure laid before Him He never stopped loving and caring for them. We all need to stop and ponder what a Wonderful and Great God we have.
